"Magnetic" Bookmarks???

Just tell me WHY anyone would need a "magnetic" bookmark!

A Basket of Sympathy

This basket is filled with sympathy cards. For two weeks now I have been receiving two or three cards each day. I did not realize how much a card can comfort. Such sweet and thoughtful friends. It makes me want to be more aware and giving. And the basket holding the cards was my Grandpa Wardle's. It was filled with fruit and given to him before he died in 1954. I was two years old.

Dark Chocolate-Covered Pretzels

A "sweet" gift from my friend Brenda.

Stuck in the Fence

Every time I pull into a particular parking spot at work this is the scene in front of me. It catches me off guard even though I have thoroughly checked it out. It is not a bird, stuck in the fence...jsut a piece of wood.

One Fat Bird

Dave and Shaury called and asked if they could come and watch the Jazz game. The kids were outside in the backyard and ran in, yelling, "Gram! Bring your camera!" And proceeded to show me the fat bird in the backyard tree.

The evening light on the tree was pretty.

On the Arizona trip I bought vests for the grandsons. They were pretty excited. I think I counted 10 pockets! They put treasures from the trip in their pockets, such as petrified wood chips, amethyst rock and fools gold.

The Jazz game didn't end till 10:30 and Ez fell asleep on this chair. I don't know how he managed to sleep without falling off!

Hazel's little doll in a moccasin from Arizona trip.

Garth

We visited Garth Rohde at the University of Utah Hospital. He had just been moved to the rehab unit. He lost his leg beneath his knee due to diabetes complications. He was in good spirits and we laughed at the IHOP application Jim Jensen had given him.

Nature's Gift

As I was getting on the freeway in Farmington today I was thankful for the beauty of sky and clouds.

Spring Hail

I was amazed at the amount and size of hail when I pulled into the driveway after work today.

Later I went to my friend Janet Shurtleff's house in Washington Terrace for our quilt meeting.

Friends and Flowers

I received some beautiful planters from dear friends. Every time I look at them I am reminded of dear friends who hold me up during hard times.

Looking out the Window

At the Cemetary

Wendy took these photos.

Mom in the Hospital

No new pictures this week. My mother was admitted Sunday and passed away two days later, on Tuesday, April 13. I was thankful that I had taken pictures in the past year.

2009 - Mom crocheted every day. She made hundreds of bookmarks and gave them away.

Mom's hands with Lacie (August 2009)

Mom and me - 2009

Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, Indian Reservation, Moab and Home

The last day in Arizona was spent in the Petrified Forest National Park, which is at the end of the Arizona side of Route 66 and is over 95,000 acres. Petrified wood has always fascinated me. I have had a rock collection since I was a kid, and have a couple of petrified wood pieces. It's amazing to me that wood can someday become rocks. Therefore, I was very excited to check out this park. There were so many colorful concentrations of petrified wood. some pieces looked like an entire tree, just laying on its side.

Most pieces were dark, so this one caught my eye.

On the trail at Crystal Forest .

Another area along the mile-long hike at Crystal Forest.

Puerco Ruins in the Petrified Forest. I especially liked this particular petroglyph- a stork and baby?

Puerco Ruins

Three tee-pees

We stopped at this little marker, explaining how Route 66 used to passed through the national park.

This old car was also at the marker.

The Painted Desert was fascinating. So many colors!

We drove through the Navajo Reservation from Holbrook (Petrified Forest) to Moab. It took most of the day. There was so much poverty! I saw this colorful house on the reservation. It haunted me. After about 20 miles, we turned around and drove back so I could stop and take some pictures. It was one of those times where I knew if I didn't get the shot, I would always regret it: The beauty of the red rocks against the poverty of reservation living.

Here's another that caught my eye. This van is attached to the building. Is this someone's home?

This shot was taken just at sunset, facing the east mountains just south of Moab. We talked about staying the night in Moab, but because of Spring Break, the little town was packed with people on the streets. We decided to press on. It was such a long day of driving. We arrived home just before 1 a.m. If we would have stayed there overnight, I would not have been able to be at the hospital at 1 p.m. the next day when my mother was admitted.

Sunset Crater Volcano, Wupoki Ruins, Meteor Crater

We hiked the Lenox Trail at Sunset Crater Volcano. It was very steep. No hikers are allowed into the volcano anymore, but the beauty of the black pebbly lava and tall pines was beautiful.

Top of Lenox Trail.

I was amazed at the mountains in Arizona. Every photo of the snow-covered mountains look like ink sketches.

We also walked another trail - this one was flat.

Wupoki Ruins

We had to crawl through this door in order to get into one of the rooms.

We checked out the Meteor Crater. It is over 50,000 years old! It's almost a mile in diameter and 550 feet deep. There's an American flag in the center. Astronauts used to use this area for training. The visitors center features an actual Apollo space test capsule. This was probably the most expensive place we visited, as it is now privately owned.